Fat Loss 5-Day Workout Program

In order to achieve rapid fat loss, you need to target your training towards burning maximum calories while maintaining as much muscle mass as possible. To accomplish this, I recommend doing both cardiovascular training and weight training during your fat loss cycle. When properly combined and targeted, weights and cardio can have spectacular effects on fat loss. Here is a 5-day workout schedule to follow during your fat loss cycle. This gives you an optimum combination of cardio training and weight training. I will explain in detail how this program is put together and why it works as well give you recommendations about what type of cardio training to do and when to do it in your workouts.

Program Notes:

During all weight training sessions you will keep your rest periods very short (30 seconds between sets) with your training volume relatively high. This will keep your heart rate up, giving your body a cardiovascular workout while you’re doing your weight workout. It’s very demanding and excellent for boosting the metabolism. Keep a timer handy or watch the clock to your rest periods consistent.

Short rest periods, higher reps and higher volume have also been shown to increase growth hormone levels in the body due to lactic acid build-up. Your body reacts to lactate (lactic acid) by releasing growth hormone. Growth hormone is very effective at decreasing fat mass in the body. The result of the short rest and high volume and reps is that you’re giving your body not only a hormonal fat-burning
boost but a cardiovascular calorie-burning boost as well.

Select exercises that will use the most muscle mass, such as squats, bench presses, dips, etc. These exercises may be tougher but they’ll burn the most calories, giving your metabolism a bigger boost and stimulating your muscles to a far greater degree.

For your workouts, the body is broken up into different parts over two days for the first two sessions. This is done in order to keep the training volume high for those bodyparts. On Day 4, the training volume is lower for the bodyparts but every single bodypart is worked. This allows you to work every bodypart twice during the cycle while still including a complete rest day on Day 5. The rest day is very important for recovering from the exercise you’ve done this week.

You’ll notice that on the first two weight training days, the reps are somewhat higher (10 to 12 reps) than on the third, total-body weight training day (5-7 reps). This is a form of periodization known as microperiodization. In normal periodization, you move through cycles of rep ranges over a period of months – here we’re doing it in period of days. The body responds very well to short cycles like this. The first two days
focus on higher reps to burn more calories and maintain muscle mass. The third session focuses on heavy weights and lower reps to keep your strength levels high.

The number of sets listed for each bodypart is the total number for you to do for that bodypart. You may choose to use only one exercise for all the sets or divide the sets up between several exercises. For example, if the program calls for 10 sets for back, you can do 10 sets of bent-over rows or you can do 5 sets of rows then 5 sets of pulldowns or perhaps 3 sets of deadlifts, 3 pulldowns, and 4 rows.

Cardiovascular training will be done three times during this 5 day cycle. In the next section, I will go into detail as to which type of cardio training to use for maximum results.

On your rest day, be sure it is a total rest day! You’re going to need it in order to recover and get ready for the next phase of muscle building. This means no exercise sessions and limiting other physical activities. Get out of the gym and relax!